November

Date	Year	Title	Event
1 November	1911	Compulsory military training introduced	The early Federal government introduced compulsory military training at the instigation of Lord Kitchener, who inspected and advised on Australia's defence forces in 1910.
1 November	1914	1st AIF sails	The first Australian and New Zealand contingent sails from Albany, Western Australia, bound for Egypt. Only one in four of those who sailed in the first convoy would return un-wounded at the end of the Great War.
1 November	1945	Australia ratifies United Nations Charter	Australia played a leading role in the formation of the United Nations, a product of its commitment to the ideals for which the Allies fought in the Second World War.
1 November	1951	No. 77 Squadron awarded South Korean Presidential citation	No. 77 Squadron, RAAF, is awarded a Republic of South Korea Presidential Citation. 77 Squadron was awarded this citation for its early service in Korea as an effective ground-support unit.
1 November	1989	National Army Memorial dedicated	Dedication of the National Army Memorial in Anzac Parade, Canberra, by the Governor General, The Hon. Bill Hayden. The memorial commemorates the service of Australians as members of the Australian Army in all wars.
2 November	1942	Kokoda airstrip re-occupied	The capture of Kokoda, New Guinea, and its airstrip enabled the Australian advance across the Owen Stanley Range to continue.
3 November	1918	Armistice with Austria-Hungary signed	With Turkey having already signed an armistice Germany was left to confront the Allies alone for the remaining days of the war.
4 November	1944	Jacquinot Bay	Troops of the 6th Brigade land at Jacquinot Bay, New Britain. Jacquinot Bay became an important base for Australian operations against the Japanese on New Britain.
5 November	1950	Battle of Pakchon, Korea	The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, successfully assault and hold crucial hill features overlooking Pakchon in the face of heavy North Korean and Chinese resistance.
5 November	1950	77 Squadron supports 3RAR	No. 77 Squadron, for the first time in the Korean War, flies in support of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, in the Pakchon - Sinanju road area, Korea. Australian Mustang fighters strafed Chinese positions just before 3RAR commenced its assault at Pakchon.
6 November	1971	HMAS Sydney at Vung Tau	HMAS Sydney embarks its final Australian army units from Vietnam at Vung Tau.
7 November	1916	Third battle of Gaza	After the outflanking advance at Beersheba, British empire forces, including the Australian Light Horse, rapidly advanced northwards toward Jerusalem.
8 November	1944	'G' George arrives at Amberley	This Lancaster bomber survived 90 operations with 460 Squadron RAAF. After touring to support war loan campaigns, it was presented to the Memorial.
9 November	1914	HMAS Sydney sinks the Emden	HMAS Sydney sinks the German cruiser Emden, off the Cocos Islands. The Emden had menaced the first convoy carrying Australian troops toward Egypt, but was driven ashore and destroyed by the Sydney in a brief but bloody action.
10 November	1942	Japanese forced from Oivi	Japanese forced back from Oivi by Australian troops. Japanese troops doggedly contested the Australian pursuit down the northern face of the Owen Stanley Ranges.
10 November	1964	Selective conscription introduced	Australian Government introduces selective conscription of 20 year old males by ballot under the National Service Act. The National Service Scheme saw 19,450 young men serve in Vietnam.
11 November	1918	Germany signs armistice	Germany signs an armistice ending the fighting on the Western Front. The Great War ended at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
11 November	1941	Opening of the Australian War Memorial	By the time a memorial to the dead of the Great War was ready to open, Australia had been involved in the Second World War for over two years.
12 November	1940	HMAS Sydney in action at Strait of Otranto	HMAS Sydney in action at the Strait of Otranto in a diversion for the British attack on Taranto. The cruiser HMAS Sydney became the most celebrated ship in the RAN after its performance in the Mediterranean against the Italian navy in 1940.
12 November	1943	Last Japanese air raid on Darwin	This, the 64th raid since February 1942, saw a conclusion of the air war fought across northern Australia.
13 November	1965	Wheatley VC	Warrant Officer K. Wheatley, Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, originally from Sydney, New South Wales, wins the first Victoria Cross of the Vietnam War posthumously in the Tra Bong Valley, Quang Ngai province.
14 November	1917	End of third battle of Ypres, Western Front.	Australian troops had been involved in the third battle of Ypres for three and a half months and suffered heavy losses at such places as Menin Road, Glencourse Wood, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde Ridge and Passchendaele.
14 November	1974	Australian White Ensign lowered for the last time in Papua New Guinea.	The Royal Australian Navy's base, HMAS Tarangau, and HMA ships Buna, Salamaua, Aitape, Lae and Madang were transferred to the Papua New Guinea Self Defence Force.
15 November	1944	Australian government approves sending of Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) members overseas	AWAS went to Lae, New Guinea, to replace men for service in forward areas. Members of the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and the Australian Army Medical Women's Service (AAMWS) were already serving in New Guinea.
16 November	1943	Mountbatten appointed Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia	Admiral Louis Mountbatten appointed Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia. .
17 November	1943	Sattleberg	The 9th Division begins its attack on Sattleberg. Sattelberg, a high peak and the key to the occupation of the Huon Peninsula, involved a hard, four-month campaign for the 9th Division.
18 November	1916	Somme campaign ends	After four months and more than 1,200,000 casualties on both sides, General Douglas Haig calls off the failed Somme offensive.
18 November	1942	Popondetta captured by Australians	Popondetta, on the steamy kunai plains north of the Owen Stanley Range, became a major Allied base for the attack on the Japanese-held beachheads in Papua.
19 November	1941	HMAS Sydney sunk	Sydney was lost with its entire crew of 645 men in a sudden and disastrous encounter with the German raider, Kormoran, off the Western Australian coast. Its loss remains controversial to this day.
20 November	1968	HMAS Sydney at Vung Tau	HMAS Sydney disembarks the 9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, at Vung Tau, Vietnam.
21 November	1943	Japanese counter-attack at Scarlet Beach	The Japanese surprise raid at Scarlet Beach, near Lae, Papua New Guinea, was narrowly held by American and Australian defenders.
22 November	1940	HMAS Canberra rescues merchant ship survivors	The Canberra picked up 3 boatloads of survivors from the merchant ship, Port Brisbane, which was sunk in the Indian Ocean by the German raider Pinguin.
23 November	1901	Maygar VC	Lieutenant L.C. Maygar, 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles, originally from Kilmore, Victoria, wins the Victoria Cross at Geelhoutboom, Natal. Maygar was the sixth and last Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the Boer War.
23 November	1944	Australian troops relieve Americans at Cape Torokina, Bougainville	The Australian arrival opened the campaign on Bougainville that cost over 500 Australian lives by the war's end.
23 November	1948	Formation of the Australian Regiment	Formation of The Australian Regiment, which became the Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) on 10 March 1949. The Royal Australian Regiment has taken a prominent role in Australia's wars and peacekeeping operations since its formation.
24 November	1943	Derrick, VC	Sergeant T.C. Derrick, 2/48th Battalion, wins the Victoria Cross at Sattleberg, New Guinea. Derrick, one of the great Australian soldiers of the Second World War, seized the summit of Sattelberg virtually single-handedly, leading the way for the Australian occupation of the dominating feature. He was from Adelaide, South Australia.
25 November	1899	Battle of Graspan, South Africa	Members of the New South Wales Lancers involved in the Battle of Graspan, South Africa. This, one of the series of defeats suffered by the British in the opening months of the Boer War, involved 29 members of the NSW Lancers, the first Australian troops to reach South Africa.
26 November	1943	Fighting at Pabu Hill, New Guinea	2/43rd Battalion repulses strong Japanese attacks on Pabu Hill, New Guinea. The 2/43rd Battalion, from South Australia, held Pabu, one of the outlying features near Sattelberg, against strong Japanese attacks.
27 November	1939	Inauguration of the Empire Air Training Scheme	Over 37,000 Australian airmen trained under the scheme, in Australia, Canada and Rhodesia, one of the Commonwealth's greatest achievements in wartime.
27 November	1941	HMAS Parramatta sunk	HMAS Parramatta was sunk by a German submarine in the Mediterranean near Tobruk. The Parramatta was part of the navy's 'Tobruk ferry', whose destroyers and sloops kept the besieged port supplied.
28 - 29 November	1942	Middleton, VC	Flight Sergeant R.H. Middleton, RAAF, attached to No. 149 Squadron, Bomber Command, RAF, wins the Victoria Cross after a raid on Turin, Italy. This was a Posthumous award. Though terribly wounded, Middleton kept his damaged bomber flying, saving the lives of his crew at the cost of his own. Middleton came from Sydney, New South Wales.
29 November	1950	Teadong River crossing secured	The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, secures the Teadong River ferry crossing, Korea. This was one of only two north-south roads available for the US Eighth Army's retreat in the face of Chinese forces. 3RAR secured the crossing and protected it from Chinese and North Korean infiltrators.
30 November	1950	President Truman threatens use of atomic weapons in Korea	United States President Truman refers publicly to the possible use of atomic weapons in Korea. Fortunately, despite the crisis that United nations troops faced after China's entry into the war, atomic weapons were not used in Korea.